When Seema Awan walks across the stage at Washtenaw Community College’s nursing pinning ceremony this December, it will be a full-circle moment for her family. The 22-year-old will not only celebrate the completion of WCC’s respected nursing program — she’ll also follow in the footsteps of her mother, Anna, who began her own nursing journey at the college a decade ago.
During WCC’s 60th anniversary celebration, the Awans’ story is a fitting tribute to the college’s legacy of shaping futures across generations.
Seema, a 2021 graduate of Ann Arbor Huron High School, began taking prerequisite courses at WCC soon after graduation and entered the nursing program in January 2024. “It’s actually gone by pretty fast,” she said. “I felt like it was going to take forever, but now I can’t believe there’s less than two months left.”
Her mother’s path helped light the way.
“My mom was in nursing school when I was in middle school and high school,” Seema recalled. “We would sit at the kitchen table and do homework together. She would tell me about what she learned that day and ask me to quiz her. Everything about it seemed really interesting.”
For Anna Awan, the call to nursing was deeply personal.
“Seema was in the NICU after she was born, so I saw firsthand how the nurses took care of her and how they supported me,” she said. “That stayed with me forever. I knew that one day I would go back to school and become a nurse so I could give care to patients in their most vulnerable moments.”
When the family moved from Virginia to Ann Arbor in 2015 for her husband Mekin’s job, Anna saw an opportunity to make that dream real.
“It was quite a challenge from the beginning,” she said, remembering those early days balancing her own college search while enrolling Seema in seventh grade at Clague Middle School. “But everything just fell into place.”
Anna earned her Associate Degree in Nursing from WCC before continuing on to Eastern Michigan University for her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and later graduate school at the University of Michigan, where she became a Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. She now works at Trinity Health Ann Arbor Hospital.
She credits WCC’s faculty with setting the foundation for her success.
“There are a couple of instructors here that Seema had that I had too, and what they taught me has stuck with me until this day,” she said. “DeAnna Gapp and Melina Roberts truly shaped the kind of nurse I am today. I still hear Melina’s voice saying, ‘Don’t break that sterile field,’ every time I insert a Foley catheter.”
Seema admits she’s often in awe of her mother’s accomplishments.
“Sometimes I think about what she did and it’s crazy — she was a mom, working part-time and doing grad school,” she said. “I live at home and have a pretty chill life and I’m always thinking, ‘This is hard!’”
Still, Anna remains her daughter’s “personal nursing dictionary.” When Seema encounters a difficult topic, she can count on her mom’s insight — or her connections.
“She’ll say, ‘Oh, I just did something like that yesterday,’ or, ‘I have a friend who works in trauma, let me ask her about it tomorrow’.” Seema said.
That mentorship came full circle when Seema shadowed her mother during a night shift at Trinity Health.
“I always assumed she was a pretty good nurse,” Seema said. “But after watching her, I realized she’s like really, really good at this.”
Seema plans to begin her career in an intensive care unit before pursuing certification as a nurse anesthetist. “The ICU is a good way to make sure you know your skills,” she said.
Anna couldn’t be prouder. “When she told me she wanted to go to nursing school, I was a little emotional,” she said. “It gave me a chance to reflect back on my journey, too. But I would cheer her on every step of the way, whether she decided to go into nursing or not.”
As Seema prepares to join the next generation of WCC nursing alumni, the Awan family embodies what 60 years of the college’s legacy represents — hard work, opportunity, and the power of education to change not just one life, but generations of them.
Tags: 60 Stories, 60th Anniversary, Alumni Profile, Nursing, Student Profile